


blue light aquarium

by ksfrmi



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Video Game World, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Inspired by Sword Art Online, Isekai, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Burn, Video Game Mechanics, also kind of inspired by log horizon but not really, depends on your definition of slow burn, idk how to write descriptions help
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25034668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ksfrmi/pseuds/ksfrmi
Summary: After logging into his favourite MMORPG for the first time in months, Renjun gets stuck inside the game world and meets Haechan, a pompous player from a top guild who doesn’t seem to have anything better to do than annoy Renjun to death. He really has a way of hitting Renjun's nerves every time they cross paths, and Renjun thinks it's over for him when he learns he must battle alongside Haechan for even a sliver of a chance at getting back to the real world. Desperate times (read: boss battle emergencies) call for desperate measures, it seems. But the more Renjun gets to know him, the more he realizes there’s a thin line between love and hate.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28
Collections: Renhyuck Fic Fest Round 1





	1. welcome, player

**Author's Note:**

> RHFF #88: Isekai au where donghyuck is a part of powerful guild and renjun a lone player where they must set aside differences and work together to **defeat a powerful monster** / topple an evil guild
> 
> okay so as you can probably see from the tags, description, and this prompt, this is a sword art online inspired fic! well, the prompt didn't _actually say_ this was an sao prompt but it screams sao prompt to me. like cmon, donghyuck being part of a powerful guild screams asuna and the knights of the blood oath, and renjun solo player = kirito. and the evil guild thing is probably something like laughing coffin.
> 
>  _anyway,_ i've been wanting to write a video game/sao au for a really long time, so even if op didn't intend for this prompt to be sao-inspired, it is now! you don't need to watch sword art online or play mmos to understand, though
> 
> the renhyuck ff mods have been gracious enough to allow me to submit an incomplete work that i can continue on my own time as long as the first two chapters are posted,,,,, i really wish i could've completed this fic but :c i didn't have time to write all 50k. yes, as of right now this fic will end with an estimated total of 50-60k words, and if it goes over i think i'm gonna s c r e a m, so please don't expect a 100k+ fic ;-;
> 
> updates will hopefully arrive weekly/biweekly!! i have almost the whole summer to write :]
> 
> the fic title "blue light aquarium" is from the lyrics of #gun - aquarium. the lyrics mention being inside an aquarium, taking the blue light of a phone and shining it like an aquarium, and wanting to escape the aquarium but at the same time wanting to stay because of its beauty (i may have misinterpreted that last part but *shrug*). i think it's pretty fitting considering the game world itself can be called an aquarium (a container) that the players want to escape from but at the same time want to stay in because the world is so beautiful. "blue light" is also fitting because, well, they're sucked inside a pc game, and you know, screens emit blue light. yeah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renjun should’ve questioned the visor more.
> 
> Or, Fall From Grace’s Neo Sequence update brings more than just new content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some brief notes about the fic/chapter before we start:
> 
> 1\. fic starts in march 2021 (beginning of chinese spring semester). 00s are 3rd years in college/uni
> 
> 2\. this chapter is mostly exposition/world building... it's definitely an information dump, so prepare yourself. i will try to explain the game terminology the best i can (either in the fic or in the end notes) but i might miss some of the basics (the curse of knowledge…). actually you know what take this [wikipedia page](https://m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_video_game_terms) for game terminology definitions
> 
> 3\. **show creator's style** for the best experience! not just for this chapter, but for the whole fic! this message will disappear when it is turned on!

Renjun wasn’t about to lie and say he hadn’t been waiting for this day.

Or night, as was probably more appropriate, for the window in his dorm leaked silvery moonlight, dripping across the clothes-littered floor (courtesy of his roommate) to his feet. Anyhow, he wasn’t afraid to admit he’d been waiting for the chance to plop down at his desk that was free of loose papers for once, turn on his laptop like he would any other day, and plug in the USB of his gaming mouse for the first time in what felt like forever.

Fall From Grace loaded in the middle of his screen sluggishly, hundreds of file names for hairstyles and items and everything of the sort flicking to one another. Renjun groaned, leaning back into his chair with the urge to take his annoyance out on his hair. He had cleared his schedule on this fine Friday night just to play the game, but he’d neglected to download and install the new update ahead of time. Big mistake.

Renjun had desperately wanted to catch up on his favourite MMORPG ever since the latest major update, Neo Sequence, had launched a little over a month ago. New zones, new drops, new quests, new monsters, new level cap, new classes—like the name of the update, it brought many new things, and it was all _more_ than major. It was a breakthrough, really. And even though he technically had the time to play it during the winter break, he had chosen to spend the majority of his time at home with his family instead. Not like he regretted his choice, but still.

Out of boredom, he reached out for his phone to pass the time as he waited for the update to finish installing. There was a new text notification from his roommate, a last chance to join him and his friends at that first-week-back-to-college party. He regretted not taking the offer, suddenly feeling the urge to drink and do something more exciting than sit around and stare at a loading screen, but he felt it was too late to accept it now, even with his roommate urging him to come, so he sent a brief text back and called it a night. He’d already begun loading the game; he might as well have finished what he started.

He took a glance at the corner of the screen for the time. It was nearing 11:50 PM, meaning the party had already long begun. It would take another 30 or so minutes for him to get ready for the party and _get to the party._ By the time he arrived, he'd just have to leave soon after anyway. He sighed. Truly, it was too late for him to accept the offer.

Before he knew it, the game had finished installing. He heard the classic OST of Fall From Grace come from his poor laptop speakers, the music hitting him with a wave of familiarity. The words **Welcome, Player** greeted him in simple black serif on a clean ivory background before ripple-fading into a long, tedious script. Not wanting to waste time with words, he spammed the space bar to skip the dialogue until it wouldn’t skip anymore.

He already knew the story well, having played the game throughout his high school years—something about how humans used to share abilities with the gods but abused them, leading them to be tossed down to the Lower Realm with their strongest powers taken away. They still retained some magic, though it wasn’t as powerful as they’d like, which led to the main storyline of the game, where some humans known as Adventurers still sought out their lost powers.

The players were the Adventurers, of course, and all they had to do to get their powers back was make their way up the 100 floating islands leading up to the heavens, which for simplicity were dubbed ‘floors’ by the players. The task turned out to be easier said than done though, and the highest floor that had been unlocked back when Renjun played more often was the 65th. Close, but not quite.

He wondered what floor they’d reached since then and whether or not each update had only made it more difficult to beat the game as time went by. More time for the developers meant more time to polish up the higher floors before the players reached them. There was probably a large difference in difficulty between the 100th floor from the initial release and the 100th floor currently, now that he thought about it. He figured it was a good thing—there wasn’t much fun in an easy game, after all, nor was there any more fun in a game once it was completed.

Renjun straightened up in his chair when the login screen finally appeared after what seemed like a hundred spacebars. He entered his login info without a hitch, for his username and password were fairly easy to remember. ‘Flavus’ was his username, meaning ‘yellow’ in Latin, and ‘Huang’ meant yellow in Chinese. Thinking about his password, on the other hand, he began to worry he might’ve been hacked since it was just _that_ easy, but he could only hope he hadn’t been. He didn’t hesitate any longer to press the enter key, submitting his login info.

**_Flavus,_ would you like to see gameplay with the new 7th Sense?**

The 7th Sense was a new VR headset developed by SM Entertainment, the game developers of Fall From Grace. Or rather, it was developed by its Chinese parent company, but that detail wasn’t very important. To be perfectly honest, Renjun didn’t have very high hopes for the product considering the technology of the 7th Sense couldn’t be much better than what was already on the market since, as far as he knew, they were new to the virtual reality industry.

The headsets were released along with the new DLC on the seventh anniversary of the game (which made the headset’s name kind of fitting), and out of curiosity Renjun had bought one at a discounted price, discounted for both the anniversary and his status as a veteran player. It was relatively cheap considering it was a tech product, further adding to his dubiousness. For the price he got it at, it was probably similar to slightly more advanced 3D glasses or something. And here Renjun thought they were past the era of 3D movies.

He’d gotten it mailed to his parent’s house while he was staying there over the winter break, and he’d brought the box with him back to the dorms when the spring semester began. He stared down at the box sitting under his desk by his feet, beginning to collect some dust.

He had opened it when he first got it to see what it looked like, and he discovered it was more of a visor than a headset: a slim and lightweight matte-black plastic ring with cutouts for your ears and a slightly yellowish-tinted front. The ring was adjustable at the back, as well as from each ear to each temple, to fit heads of all sizes. (Actually, he’d nearly broken it while playing around with the adjustable parts, but no one needed to know that.)

He dragged the box out from under the desk with his feet before picking it up and setting it on his lap. He opened the cardboard and took out the visor, still inside its already ripped-open plastic packaging. He discarded the plastic bag in his small garbage can and proceeded to plug a USB cable into the visor, as per instructions, before wearing it on his head.

He hadn’t actually tried it on until now, and he found that the yellowish-brown lens was actually a little orange-tinted, working as both sunglasses and a blue light filter when turned off. That, and the lens was also split into two slightly different shades down the center, for the left eye and the right. There was no magnifying effect on the lens, he noted, which was making these glasses truly seem like 3D glasses. Maybe these were some sort of active shutter 3D glasses—it was what they seemed like to him, though they didn’t explicitly detail as such on the packaging. If they were going to sell 3D glasses, at least they decided to make the most advanced type of 3D glasses.

He plugged the other end of the cable into his laptop's side port, and immediately the headset was recognized by his laptop. Some more things began installing, and then he was prompted to read and accept the terms of service. It was a long list, much too long, and Renjun checked off the boxes at the end without a second thought. He knew everyone was guilty of doing the exact same thing. Who had time to read all of that stuff anyway? A configuration screen popped up, and he decided to leave the settings on default, clicking OK.

Renjun thought this visor would just change the viewing experience of the game. Make everything pop with better graphics, you know? He thought testing it out would go smoothly.

He was wrong.

What he didn't anticipate was for his laptop screen brightness to go from 0 to 100 and for some trippy images to appear on the visor's lens. It was like a dilating kaleidoscope except more irregular, like a colour-shifting liquid—like a liquid-crystal display. The high brightness and colour contrast soon caused him to bring his hands to his face and squeeze his eyes firmly shut. Only when his screen dimmed in the next moment did he dare to open his eyes again after whatever the hell _that_ was.

Renjun didn’t expect to see greenery in the daytime.

All around him was forest, trees upon trees and green leaves everywhere he looked—on the trees, on the shrubbery, on the ground after they had fallen. Minor sunlight peeked through the branches, and after being blinded like that, the shade was an absolute blessing.

Renjun knew he was ignoring the fact staring him right in the face. Was it really even a fact? Was this even _possible?_ He couldn't bring himself to believe that, in an instant, he had been taken from the comfort of his dorm to the woods, and the sun was high up in the sky as if it was noon when 11:52 PM had been just a few seconds ago. Not to mention the visor had totally disappeared from his head. This was all just a joke, right? A prank. This _must_ have been some big, fat prank. His ears registered the chirping of birds, and to him they only seemed like a mockery, as if even the animals were in on the prank.

He looked down at his clothes in even more disbelief. He was wearing a simple brown cotton tunic, cinched at the waist with a leather belt, and leather trousers and boots to match. Also, his feet looked further away than usual, as though he had grown taller by a lot. Most frighteningly, there was a sword attached at his hip, a sword that Renjun most definitely didn't know how to wield.

The thing was, he knew well what he was wearing—the beginners' clothes, the first outfit every player of Fall From Grace, no matter their class, wore when they first joined the game. Except Renjun had been playing the game for over six years, and the last time he logged on he'd been the then-highest level, level 80. He'd long discarded these plain garments from his inventory for a badass black ensemble, one he'd been hoping to see in its full glory in third person from his screen.

Wait. He knew the reason he was taller—he had made his character 6'2" in height, the dream height that he'd never have in the real world. That meant he had to be inside his avatar's body, except he was a beginner with little to no muscle or strength again.

No, he didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to believe that he'd been transported inside a video game, inside the body of his avatar. But as he patted himself down and found vials of assorted coloured liquids attached to his belt—red and green for health (green being the more powerful of the two), blue for mana, and iridescent white for EXP—it became harder to deny the truth.

Maybe Renjun was dreaming. Perhaps, in reality, he had gone to the party after all, and he’d gotten drunk and passed out, meaning what he was currently seeing was just a figment of his imagination. That would explain his height—he could only be his dream height in a dream. Yeah, he was just dreaming, and he wasn’t _actually_ in the world of his favourite MMORPG, and none of this was _actually_ real—

“Wow, would you look at that. There’s a newbie to the game.” Renjun whipped around at the sound of the voice, only to find a group of three guys (all shorter than him, he noted, but they didn't seem to be intimidated by him at all) around level 30. They were dressed in better gear than his own brown get-up, and the first two were Warriors while the third was a Mage. Their names were hidden, though, and he didn't know how they did it. Perhaps it was a new feature that had been introduced in the update.

The way they had spoken and the pompous looks on their faces made Renjun want to scoff, considering they were still fairly low-levelled compared to his old level. It made him think about his current level, which, when he tilted his head up to the left, he learned was a measly 1.

 _Shit,_ Renjun thought. He was only level 1, and he didn’t know how to fight, and he was in a body he wasn't used to. Sure, he had just been telling himself that none of this was real, but there was a sinking feeling that told him he might’ve been wrong about that. It looked to him as though the three guys were planning to jump and PK him, and fear coursed through his veins that he could die here. If he died in the game, would he be able to revive? He didn’t want to die and find out.

Renjun laughed nervously. “You guys don’t happen to know where this place is, right?” he said, playing dumb in an attempt to buy himself some time. It wasn’t that he didn’t know where this place was—it was the Round Forest, a monster-free field in the Lower Realm that players passed through on their way to complete their Second Job quests. One look at the minimap at the bottom-left corner of his vision had told him that. He just didn’t know why he hadn't spawned in a town, and he didn't know how to get out of this place and predicament. He’d be able to do so much more in this situation if only he knew how to open the damn menu.

The smirks on their faces grew as they continued approaching him. “Oh, just the Round Forest. You can look at your bottom-left for the map,” the same one answered. He was a Warrior, a Lord Knight.

Renjun pretended to look down at his minimap again, backing away from the group slowly and discreetly. “O-oh. And you guys wouldn’t happen to know how to open the menu, _right?”_

“Look, noob. I’m gonna be straight with you here,” the other Warrior, a Buccaneer, began. “Hand over your beginner bonus items or else we’ll kill you right here and now. It’s nothing personal; we just want your stuff. Now hand ‘em over.”

Renjun stared at the outstretched hand warily, debating whether they would really leave him alone after he gave his items or if they’d kill him anyway for kicks. He thought this was so lame of him because if this was in-game and behind a screen, he’d hand these player killers their asses as the level 80 he was (or rather used to be). Even if this was _real life,_ like a fistfight or something, he wouldn’t be considering giving up so easily either, even if it meant a couple injuries for himself. Except this was in-game _and_ real-life at the same time, and there were dangerous weapons involved and the chance of death.

Renjun continued to back away, but they kept approaching until they cornered him against a tree. The leaves shuffled as his back met the tree trunk hard, driving a small flock of birds out to another tree. He had no room to back up now, and he opened his mouth to tell them at the last second that he’d give them his items, but didn’t get to voice a single word because—

“You know, PKing isn't cool, dude,” someone said from behind the PKers, making them look over their shoulders to see who was interrupting them. Through the gaps, Renjun could see the newcomer’s black and violet-accented hanbok and two swords at his left side, one longer and one shorter. A Samurai? But in a Korean hanbok?

The Sorcerer leaned in closer to the two Warriors, whispering, “Hey, I don’t think we should mess with the new guy.”

“And just why shouldn’t we?” the Buccaneer muttered back.

“He’s from Phantom Inferno, that’s why. You _know_ they only accept players level 30 and above—well, _35_ and above this week, or so I've heard—and not only that but they give out those sick uniforms and top-notch gear. We can’t beat that,” the Sorcerer replied. It seemed they weren't used to being quiet because Renjun could hear everything clearly, whether he was in close proximity or not.

“Well, there’s only one of him and three of us. We won't have to worry about the other guy—he's a total noob. I say we go for it,” the Knight said, and soon enough the three broke up from their huddle to face the Phantom Inferno member. Renjun looked for his name hanging above his head. Haechan, it was.

“To open the menu, just put your thumb, index, and middle finger together and pull down…" He looked above Renjun's head and squinted. "Flavus. 'Yellow' in Latin, huh? That's kinda lame,” Haechan said, making Renjun blush furiously. _'And just what kind of a name is Haechan?'_ Renjun wanted to retort with, but couldn't before Haechan continued talking, this time to the group of PKers. "Hurry up and come at me—I already heard what you three were saying. I'll make sure you regret it."

 _"We'll_ make sure _you_ regret it!" the Buccaneer growled, unsheathing his cutlass and bending his knees before taking a swift, bold stride towards Haechan. Right as the Buccaneer was about to strike with a stab to the shoulder, Haechan pivoted out of the way and made some quick jabs as the Buccaneer stumbled trying to catch himself. The Buccaneer whipped his body around to glower at Haechan—he seemed to lose his temper quite easily, and judging from his input during their little huddle, he didn’t seem to be that bright either.

The Lord Knight soon jumped into the battle to back up his Buccaneer buddy, charging in with his sword which was pointed behind him to lessen the wind resistance. He stopped in front of Haechan with a small skid, and he dragged his heavy sword—now glowing a warm orange—in an upwards diagonal slash.

Renjun braced himself for the incoming gusts of wind, coughing and fanning away the dust when it settled. Renjun hadn’t been able to see clearly after what he assumed to be a combo from the Knight, and thus he hadn’t been able to see how Haechan managed to come out of it unscathed. His katana was still in its sheath, to Renjun’s amazement. Some sort of defensive skill, maybe?

Haechan brushed off the dust settled on his hanbok before sighing. “Was that the best you two could do?” he asked tauntingly, earning himself even deeper scowls from the two Warriors. “Wanna try again?”

“Oh, I’m not gonna stop until I finally kill you and shut up that stupid mouth of yours!”

"My dude, I gotta say, I admire that enthusiasm and determination you got there—woah!"

The Buccaneer followed up on his words, invading Haechan's space with quick steps before going in with a horizontal slash. Right for the neck. But Haechan managed to throw back his head and duck just in time to dodge it. Then, smartly, speedily, the Buccaneer went to thrust his cutlass into Haechan's abdomen. But Haechan managed to deflect it with his katana's scabbard by pushing the hilt down with his left hand like a seesaw and twisting the scabbard around with his right, pushing the cutlass upwards and away. Haechan jumped away after that, putting some distance between them again.

Wow. Renjun was beginning to think that the Buccaneer was kind of good, but Haechan was proving to be _insane._ Speed and reflexes like that were definitely impossible to achieve in real life. Haechan was unreal, both figuratively and literally.

An exaggerated wipe of sweat. The silent equipment of a second cutlass. "Phew, that was a close one—" The Buccaneer and Knight rushing towards Haechan together as he drew his katana. Haechan parrying their intense combos with ease before he attacked for the first time in the whole battle, his center low and his movements as quick as lightning.

In one second, Haechan was in front of the two Warriors, holding his katana with both hands while in a stable stance. In the next, Haechan was behind them, already sheathing his katana. Then Renjun saw that the two now had reddish-orange crosshatched gashes from Haechan's attack—Haechan's attack that he hadn't even seen. Their health bars showed that Haechan's strike had depleted half of their health in one go.

Haechan smirked. “That was one of my Samurai combos just now. I’ll admit, you two aren’t the _worst_ fighters I’ve come across, but you’re still not good enough to beat me.”

The Buccaneer seemed to get especially raged by that, face flushing and absolutely seething. “Sorcerer!” he called to their magic-user in the back, at least smart enough to not reveal his name. "Some spells, maybe? Don’t just stand there; cast some magic!”

"Alright, alright. Geez, so demanding," the Sorcerer said, shaking his head before raising his staff to cast a spell. His back was turned to Renjun, having seemingly forgotten about him entirely. This was Renjun's chance to actually _do something._ "Frost Salvo!"

"Oh _no_ you don't!"

Renjun tackled the Sorcerer to the ground from behind, cancelling his spell. He pinned the Sorcerer down on his stomach and pried the staff out of his hands, tossing it far behind them. It hit a tree dead on, the narrowed base of the staff lodging itself in the wood like a dart. The staff had glowed green for a moment as he threw it, as though he’d activated a skill or a combo, but he had no idea how he did it.

Anyhow, the Sorcerer’s staff was basically unequipped now, and as long as Renjun kept him from opening the menu, the Sorcerer wouldn't be able to take out a new one from his inventory. The Sorcerer was powerless without a tool to channel his magic, and with such a heavy reliance on his magic he was physically weak, body squirming in a poor attempt to escape from under Renjun’s weight and hands unable to break free his grip.

With the Sorcerer under control, Renjun glanced back at Haechan and the other two PKers for the situation. From the looks of it, Haechan had struck them with another blow, leaving them with only a quarter of their hit points. He watched as Haechan resheathed his sword, choosing to not finish them off. The question returned to the forefront of his mind: would players die if their health reached zero? Was that why Haechan was sparing them? Or was he just refusing to stoop down to their level?

"Promise not to try anything on him again?" Haechan asked.

The Sorcerer fearfully looked toward the Warrior duo, mouthing to them something along the lines of 'You guys can't take another hit from him—you'll die.'

The Knight’s expression was sour as he said, "Fine, we won't try anything on _him_ again. That's a promise on our word. But there is _nothing_ stopping us from trying to jump _you_ in the future. Remember that."

Haechan hummed. "Fine by me. You can leave now," he said before turning to Renjun. “Let the Mage go.” Renjun did as he was told, getting off from the Sorcerer’s back. The Sorcerer staggered to his feet, one hand holding his lower back where Renjun had sat on him.

“C’mon, let’s go,” the Knight—the _leader_ —said. The Sorcerer quickly ran to pull his staff out from the tree before returning to the Warriors’ sides.

“Gah, I can’t believe you were so useless,” the Buccaneer told the Sorcerer as they were walking further away. He whacked the Sorcerer in the back of the head, getting a groan in response.

“Ow, that hurt. And I already saved your ass in the dungeon today,” the Sorcerer said. He opened his menu and took out two red health potions from his inventory, handing them to the two Warriors. “Whatever. Here.”

Then they walked out of Renjun’s hearing range, and he couldn’t help but sigh. They really didn’t seem that bad, just like plain PKers. Sure, maybe the Buccaneer fit into his pirate persona a tad too well, but this was a roleplaying game—it was fine, encouraged even. They killed people for kicks, but, again, this was a roleplaying game—not so encouraged but some people just liked being the villain in games for a change from real life. If they knew players actually died when their HP hit zero, then they wouldn’t be PKing, right? They wouldn’t knowingly murder people, right? In other words, Renjun had nothing to worry about because death in the game didn’t mean death in real life. But here was a scary thought: what if death in-game _did_ mean death in real life, and the PKers just didn’t know?

Haechan cleared his throat, bringing Renjun out of his head. He could think about all that stuff later. “You okay? Did you get hurt?”

Renjun shook his head. “Perfectly unscathed. Thank you for your help, you were really amazing back there.”

“It was no problem. You looked like you needed it. Looked _real_ helpless out there—you couldn’t even draw your sword, like a total wuss. I can tell that your avatar’s height isn’t your real height, and that you’re probably much shorter in real life. Why else would you be so clumsy? Or maybe that _is_ your real height, and you’re also clumsy with those lanky limbs in real life.”

The more Haechan talked, the more irritating he seemed to get. He was just so damn _annoying_ and _rude—_ a total jerk, he was, and he seemed to use that asshole attitude towards people indiscriminately.

“You know what? Never mind, I could've handled myself,” Renjun grumbled.

“That’s not what it looked like to me,” Haechan teased. “You looked like a damsel in distress, backed up cowardly like that. It makes me wonder, do you usually get bullied like this in real life?” A stick below Renjun's foot snapped loudly, and Haechan had the gall to continue and say, “Did that touch a nerve?”

Renjun glared at Haechan, who, in turn, sent him a smug look. Really, he was no better than the PKers at this point. “Yes, in fact, it did. So you got the pleasure of being my knight in shining armour. That must've been good for stroking your ego. But make no mistake, I'm no damsel in distress.”

And with that, Renjun was walking away, not wanting to talk with Haechan any longer than he needed to. He put his right thumb, index, and middle finger together and pulled down like Haechan had told him (like a Maneki Neko, he thought briefly). The menu appeared in front of him, white, sleek, and minimalist. The logout button was completely greyed out, so he decided to go with a Return spell to transport himself to the nearest town. It worked in the game; there was no reason for it to not work now.

As he was engulfed in brilliant blue light, he made a promise with himself to level up and become stronger, just to put that pretentious ass in his place one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew i feel like that chapter had quite a lot of information,,,, this chapter and the next were meant to be one chapter but i felt like that would be too much so i split it. now each chapter is going to be around 4-5k instead of the 7-8k i was originally planning, though that might be better since that means quicker updates
> 
> i'm about to go into the facts and classes now, so if you don't feel like reading that, feel free to move on to the next chapter :]
> 
>  **(not so) quick facts**  
>  1\. neo sequence is DLC (downloadable content; free), not an expansion pack  
> 2\. the 7th sense (the vr visor) is based off sao’s amusphere. kind of  
> 3\. fall from grace has a class/job system. players choose a base class when they first create their characters and then can advance to "jobs" as they level up (1st job = lvl 15; 2nd job = lvl 30; transcendence = lvl 70; 3rd job = lvl 80). 2nd job is a prerequisite to transcendence, and transcendence is a prerequisite to 3rd job, but 1st job isn't a prerequisite to 2nd job. that means players can jump from base classes to 2nd jobs (the mechanics of this are like ragnarok online but tweaked)  
> 4\. 3rd jobs were only just introduced with the neo sequence DLC (bc of the raised level cap), as well as wandless (or staff-less. _hands-only)_ magic. i'll explain magic application later in the fic  
> 5\. most classes/game mechanics are based off log horizon, ragnarok online, and other mmorpgs (not going to get into subclasses but those are mainly based off [log horizon's subclasses](https://log-horizon.fandom.com/wiki/Subclasses))
> 
>  **CLASSES**  
>  **base class:**  
>  1\. 1st job -> 2nd job [1] / 2nd job [2] -> 3rd job [1] / 3rd job [2]  
> [additional notes]  
>  **warriors:**  
>  1\. knight -> _lord knight_ -> grandmaster  
> [the classic warrior class; can be a tank or a damage dealer depending on the build]  
> 2\. pirate -> _swashbuckler_ / buccaneer -> shining knight / privateer  
> [western equivalent of blader]  
> [can duel wield (use 2 weapons simultaneously)]  
> 3\. blader -> _samurai(/hwarang_ /youxia) -> master swordsman  
> [eastern equivalent of pirate]  
> [the 2nd job's name depends on the server (japanese/korean/chinese). however, after the update, hwarang/youxia are overpowered by the name samurai]  
> 4\. crusader -> _paladin_ -> royal guard  
> [eastern = warrior but western = cleric due to differences in translation; to be explained later on]  
>  **thieves:**  
>  1\. rogue -> mercenary / _assassin_ -> top dog / elite assassin  
> [can also duel wield]  
> [the assassin class was released a few years after the mercenary class]  
> [assassins have the highest dps (damage per second) in the game and are also considered overpowered]  
>  **archers:**  
>  1\. hunter -> sniper -> ranger  
> [long-ranged attackers. mainly use bow & arrows. in the new update, guns are available and so hunters can now equip guns]  
> 2\. bard -> _minstrel_ -> maestro  
> [support class (good at buffing and debuffing). utilizes instruments/music instead of traditional weapons]  
>  **mages:**  
>  1\. mage -> sorcerer -> warlock  
> [one of the first classes created by the game. mages refer to both this 1st job and magic users (excluding clerics/bards) as a whole]  
> [unlike wizards, sorcerers seek power, thus their magic is stronger and does more damage than a wizard's magic (even if they both use the same spell)]  
> 2\. scholar -> _wizard_ -> sage  
> [unlike sorcerers, wizards seek knowledge/wisdom, thus they have a wider variety of spells]  
> 3\. illusionist -> magician -> enchanter  
> [the least popular class in the game because they aren't good at dealing damage, can't use elemental magic, and can't be played solo since they are built as a support class. rarely seen in-game but are used for crowd control and buffs/debuffs like bards]  
> 4\. occultist -> medium -> necromancer  
> [a new class from the neo sequence update. they can bring the dead back to life and control them at will, but this is limited to non-player entities]  
> [is extremely hard to master, possibly the most difficult]  
>  **clerics:**  
>  1\. priest -> _bishop_ -> archbishop  
> [literally the only healing class in the entire game]  
> 2\. crusader -> _paladin_ -> royal guard  
> [holy knights capable of using holy magic, mainly defensive/damage-absorbing magic]  
> [highest defense stat in the game; they're definitely meant to be tanks]
> 
> phew, that's all the classes! some of them will be explained in further detail inside the actual fic :] also notice how i italicized some of the 2nd jobs... those ones are the dreamies' classes. gotta wonder which class belongs to who, right


	2. game mechanics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Renjun takes the first step towards his goal of returning to the real world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reminder to **show creator's style** for this fic!! not like you really need it for this chapter but you should be building the habit :)
> 
> did i ever say this was unbetaed? well, it's unbetaed. we die like fools
> 
> why did i decide to write a fantasy-action fic ;__; writing action is so hard,,,,, oh yeah this is also only my second time writing a fic with action. hopefully by the end of writing this fic i'll be a pro at action
> 
> prepare yourselves for yet another chapter of worldbuilding/exposition...

It was only an hour and a half after Renjun had been tossed into this world that he truly began to believe this was his new reality.

He had been skeptical at first, thinking he was just dreaming this all up, but after talking to the other players in town he’d learned a few things.

One, that this world was, in fact, their new reality, and that they’d all gotten here in the same way as him: the 7th Sense. The only difference was the time—while most of the players had logged in on the day or week of Neo Sequence’s initial release with use of the visor, Renjun was one of the players they’d seen come several weeks after. Sadly enough, he wasn’t the only one who had joined late and gotten stuck like the rest of them.

Though, there were only a small few who had entered late as SM Entertainment was _apparently_ under fire since the public found out it was bringing players' consciousnesses into the game with those visors, like the 'full-dive' VR that was supposed to be far into the future. _Apparently,_ one player didn't believe the news, paid the price by getting stuck in-game, and told everyone here. However, in Renjun's case, he hadn't heard anything _at all,_ and that worried him.

Two, all the players who had worn the visor were now in the same server, no matter what country they were from, and there was an even more surprising result.

_"For example, I'm from the Japan server," one of the players, real name Yuta (apparently it was habitual for everyone to use their real names), had said, "but I ended up in this one server together with the Korea and China server players. There are some western-based players in here too, but there aren't that many who managed to get a hold of the visors."_

_"Wow, you're Japanese? But you have such great Mandarin," Renjun had said, totally in awe. Chinese wasn't exactly that easy to learn, after all._

_"Oh, no, I'm not actually talking in Mandarin. I take it you're from the China server? There's another thing—all speech is translated in real time automatically. I mean, speech-to-text and text-to-speech is possible, and there’s probably machine learning to thank for copying people’s voices and tones. For me, you're actually talking in Japanese, since that's my default language setting," Yuta had explained._

_Renjun had hummed, processing what Yuta just told him. "Is there a way to turn it off? The auto-translate thing."_

_"I wouldn't really recommend it, unless you're multilingual and fluent in Korean, Japanese, Cantonese, and English. Besides, even if you turn it off for yourself, other people will probably still have it on. But to answer the question, yes, there is—just open the menu, go to your sound settings, and uncheck the box. Or, actually,_ boxes _—you can choose which languages to auto-translate and which ones to not."_

_"I'm pretty good at Korean, if I do say so myself," Renjun had said. "If I turn it off for Korean, then I won't be getting rusty."_

_"That's...one way to put it to use, I suppose," Yuta had said. "We don't know exactly when you'll be able to use your Korean back in the real world."_

Three, that if you died in-game, no one knew where you'd go, much to his dismay. He’d been hoping for a clear answer. No one actually knew if you ended up dying in real life or if you got transported to isolation in who knows where. You’d just...disappear. The player killers couldn’t care less, though, believing that the theories were hoaxes created to stop their fun.

They killed players for the hell of it, disregarding the possibility that they could be actual murderers, disregarding the possibility that they themselves could die for real—that was, until they met the blade of another player powerful enough to bring them to their knees, powerful enough to instill the very real possibility of death. (Just like that group of players who had tried to kill him earlier; the powerful player in this case was Haechan, who was only slightly a better person than those PKers.)

Four, that the village NPCs in this world might as well not be called NPCs anymore. Renjun had thought it was preposterous—simply impossible—when they’d said the NPC villagers were just like real people, but one gentle push toward one of the villagers and a conversation of small-talk later, and he was convinced.

Really, they were so realistic in their body language and unscripted in their dialogue that it put Renjun almost on edge. They were wearing the same villager clothes as the NPCs did in the old game and had the undeniable viridian-jewelled ring signifying an NPC villager on their hands, but they were now genuine in personality and truly seemed like real people.

Five, that everyone’s level and inventory had reset just like his, and not only that but all the progress they’d made over the years since the game’s release was gone as well. Hours upon hours of countless players’ lives? Wasted.

The final (and most discouraging) thing he had learned was that, as it turned out, the only way to get back to the real world was to beat the game. And _as if_ they could beat the game now, not while they had to play in their actual bodies and not simply control their avatars from behind a screen anymore. Not while they needed to start from the Lower Realm all over again. Not to mention, with the new Neo Sequence update...things would be different than what they’d known of the game when it was still just a game. Things would be _new,_ and _new_ meant _challenging._

If Renjun thought about it, _everything_ was new to _everyone_ —never would any of them have thought they’d get sucked into a video game where they had to actually pick up weapons and fight. Renjun especially pitied the true noobs who were just picking up the game, who not only didn’t know how to fight but also didn’t know much about the original game. _This_ wasn’t what they paid for, what _any of them_ paid for.

It had been just over a month since the Update. And already, most players seemed to have given up the idea of ever returning to the real world. Though some players were adjusting quite well, mostly the players who had once upon a time only dreamed of being warriors in a fantasy world, they had no will to go back to the world where they had come from. To them, this world was the perfect place to live in—no laws, complete freedom, and all the action and adrenaline rushes they could ever want.

On the other hand, people were so discouraged at the prospects of ever beating the game that they lost hope. How long would it take to clear all 100 islands of Fall From Grace and reach the heavens? Five years? Ten years? People didn’t want to risk their lives for a lost cause.

But Renjun wanted to believe it _wasn’t_ a lost cause, that it was possible. That, no matter the odds, they could beat the game and return to the real world. Someday—it didn’t matter when (though preferably as soon as possible), as long as it happened in the end. Maybe it was because it was only his first day in this world that he still had so much hope, but he’d always been told that he was an optimist. He wanted to fight on the frontlines and participate in boss raids—whatever it was he had to do—so he could go back to his life and family in the real world.

And just _how_ would he start his goal of fighting in boss raids? By learning how to fight, of course. No matter how one looked at it, it was obvious that knowing how to fight was essential to living in this world. There were mobs ready to attack you as soon as you left the borders of a safe zone, and PKers you wanted to defend yourself from, and money and items you needed to earn to survive. And if you wanted to beat bosses and bust your way to the heavens like him, you would need to know how to fight.

However, he knew he couldn’t just go straight to the actual fields. Sure, if he was behind a monitor he’d go for it, except now he had to use his own body to fight and didn’t even know if he’d die after, well, _dying._ In other words, he needed to start even smaller than low-level fields.

He was pretty sure there was a training ground in the Lower Realm, a PK-free zone that spawned mobs easy enough to beat for total beginners. Well, only players from levels 0 to 10 were allowed inside anyway, so the PKers, who were usually mid-level players, wouldn’t even be able to get inside to kill anyone. That’s how Renjun made the plan to first get the hang of fighting at the training grounds before going into the fields to properly level up and save up on gold to buy himself some good gear.

The minimap was disabled in town, leaving players to use the signs posted around town, their own knowledge, and their own sense of direction. Renjun followed the signs in the main square to get to the training grounds, and as he had expected, there was a fence gate to a clearing. The only things that spawned in the training grounds were grass-green slimes, the weakest and most unintelligent mobs in the game, and with that knowledge coupled with the fact it was a PK-free zone for players under level 10, he strolled through the gate without fear.

Renjun watched as another player, a Thief, simply slashed a slime in half with her daggers before doing some acrobatics. The slime vanished into little bubbles, leaving behind no remains, and Renjun figured this should've been easy enough. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to do any cool tumbling tricks like that Thief, but he’d definitely manage on his own.

A slime didn't appear for him right away, but then a beanbag-chair-sized one spawned right in front of him in a flash of red light. Renjun proceeded to take out his beginner's blade, pointing it tentatively at the slime. He really didn’t know how to fight and didn't exactly want to make a fool of himself, but he wouldn’t learn if he didn’t try. There was a first for everything, right? Just as long as that jerk Haechan wasn’t here, he didn’t mind even if he _did_ make a fool of himself.

He wasn’t used to holding the sword—its weight felt weird in his hands, and his arm kept tensing up weirdly despite it being a fairly light one-handed sword. He wasn’t used to this new body, not one bit. He took a deep breath in an attempt to relax and unstiffen, and then he went in for the kill. He swung the sword down on the slime, slicing it like it was made of jelly. It was as if some unknown force had guided him, like his avatar’s muscle memory or something. It was easy.

The slime disappeared into bubbles that rose into the sky, leaving behind some gold in a small brown pouch, or more specifically 27 gold pieces. Not that he counted himself—that was what the small pop-up window in front of him said. He got some EXP from that kill too, but not nearly enough for him to go from level 1 to level 2. This was the training grounds, after all, with the weakest of the weak monsters.

The small pop-up disappeared in a few seconds on its own. Renjun sighed in relief, glad that fighting with a sword was easier than he had originally thought. He discovered that he had to manually pick up the tiny pouch of gold the slime left behind; back in the game, all he had to do was walk over items and gold and they'd be sucked into his inventory instantly. When Renjun dumped the gold into the larger leather pouch at his side, the smaller one disappeared into bubbles like the slime had when it died. (Hey, no waste.)

And like that, Renjun went on to kill a few more slimes until he somewhat got the hang of it. He may not have been getting much actual EXP, but he was getting some experience with fighting, which, at the current moment for him, seemed much more valuable. He couldn't shake off the weird feeling of his new body, though, no matter how much he tried.

Then he overheard another player in the training ground say to the Thief (were they friends?) something about how she felt so much better and more comfortable after 'getting fitted,' whatever _that_ meant. He approached said player, asking what she had meant.

"Have you been feeling weird inside your new body? Have you had any trouble moving around? Do you feel more clumsy than usual?" she asked. Renjun nodded, and she continued, "Then you should probably get fitted. See, everyone who gets sucked into this world uses the body of their in-game character, which might be a different height or body type to your real body depending on how you customized it. You can get your body to look and feel like your real one by 'getting fitted,' or by changing your character's appearance. Like, with that one-use ticket beginners get. And because we all started over, we all have one. But you have to go to an NPC's shop to use it."

"A one-use ticket, huh…" Renjun repeated to himself. That was probably one of the items that group of PKers wanted, along with his potions. They'd probably go for a lot, too; none of the items in the game were user-specific—they were only ever _class-_ specific—so they could be freely traded and equipped by anyone who got their hands on them.

Renjun thanked them for the info and promptly made his way out of the training grounds, determined to return once he finished his makeover. It would be nice to have his face and proportions back—his real-life self looked more handsome than his in-game avatar. More than that, it would be _convenient._

He just hoped it wouldn't be like going under the knife.

He asked around town where he could get fitted, and soon enough he was pointed in the direction of the NPC-run shop. It was near the town square; Joann’s Fitting Room, it was called. A fitting name, if you asked him. He entered the shop without hesitation, wanting to get it over with quickly so he could go back to training.

The store was empty, as far as Renjun could tell. The lights weren’t on, but then again it was still daytime. He couldn’t see any customers either, but then again most of the players stuck in here had probably already gotten fitted a long time ago. He double-checked the sign behind the window to make sure the store was open. It was.

“Oh, I didn’t realize we had a customer in here!” a woman said from behind him. Renjun almost jumped out of his skin, startled, and he turned around. A kind face greeted him. “Sorry, dearie, I didn’t mean to scare you there.”

“No, no. It’s all good, ma’am,” Renjun said. “Are you the Joann of Joann’s Fitting Room?”

She beamed. “That I am, young man! Welcome to my fitting room!” Renjun’s eyes dropped down to her hands, checking for a green-jewelled ring. It was on her right index; she was currently fiddling with it, rotating it from side to side. Damn, these NPCs felt a tad too real to be NPCs. “I was just organizing some of my boxes in the back, but I guess I’ll have to put it off till later… You’re looking to get fitted, right?”

Renjun nodded. “Could you perhaps explain to me how this is going to work? I heard I could change my appearance here, but none of the people I asked gave me the specifics.”

“Ah, of course! But first, follow me,” Joann said, leading Renjun to a room in the back of the shop. There were more than a few mirrors in the room, as well as a cushioned workbench in the middle, maybe two meters long or more. She placed her hand on the workbench. “This, right here, is my workbench. You’ll lie down on here, and I will use my magic to resculpt you. Like clay, almost. I’m a mage, see, and this spell has been passed down to me from my great-grandfather. If my customer wants longer legs, I can stretch them out. Likewise, if they want shorter legs, I can push them in. If they want to change their face, I can smooth out and resculpt their features, as though manipulating clay.”

“Ah,” Renjun said in understanding, “I think I get it now.” So it _wasn’t_ going to be like surgery. The great wonders of magic…

“Then shall we get started?”

“I...I don’t need to take off my clothes, right?” Renjun asked innocently, and Joann laughed heartily but otherwise said nothing. He assumed it was a no. He propped himself up on the workbench. He just about fit on it. It was more comfortable than he had expected.

“I’m going to take a lucky guess and say you want less lanky limbs,” she said from beside the workbench.

Renjun’s eyes widened, tilting his head towards Joann. “How did you know?”

“A lot of my customers have been asking for that as of late. They’re Adventurers like you, though I’ve heard them refer to themselves as ‘players’ before.”

“I see… Yes, I’d like shorter legs, shorter arms, a shorter torso, a smaller waist, and a different face.”

Joann hummed. “Then let’s start with the torso.” She revealed a wand from behind her back, and she began chanting words from a language he’d never heard before. Unlike most of the spells players were able to cast, it didn’t cast just by saying the spell’s name, he noticed. He quickly lost the feeling in his body from the shoulders down, only able to move his head and neck slightly. Then a magic mirror appeared and hovered above his body, reflecting himself so he could see if his body proportions were good or not. “Tell me when to stop,” she said, and his torso slowly began shrinking in length, as well as his shirt.

He watched the mirror carefully, waiting for his torso to meet just the right length. “Stop,” he said, and his torso stopped shrinking. His arms also shrunk shorter to be proportionate without his sayso and stopped with the tips of his fingers just above the mid-thigh. He guessed it was above the mid-thigh since he still had to get his legs shorter.

He stopped feeling paralyzed, and Joann nodded in the direction of one of the non-magic mirrors. “I want you to stand there and then use your hands to sculpt your chest, waist, and hips. You’ll be able to feel, but I promise it won’t hurt at all. You won’t be crushing your ribs or internal organs, so don’t worry.”

He got up from the workbench and nodded, walking over to the mirrors. He didn’t see the face and figure that he’d grown so used to seeing, but an entirely different man. He frowned before pressing gently at his sides with his hands, sculpting his old torso. This whole process seemed to be based off of the character creation and customization screen, where a floating 3D model could be adjusted with a few click-and-drags, only it was in first person.

Then it was back to the bench, but this time he was told to sit up at mark to what point he wanted his legs to shrink. He made a chopping motion to his shin. “I think I want my legs this short…” he said but then he thought about it. He could cheat a little bit on the height and keep some of the extra height. “Actually, a few inches longer than that.”

“Are you sure about that?” Joann asked, as if sensing he was making his legs longer than they were in real life—not that she could actually know what his original body looked like. “A lot of the Adventurers—or _players_ —say they’ve come to me to get their ‘original’ bodies back, not like I know what they mean by that,” she said, like she was reading his mind. “Because, well, I was under the assumption that the bodies they walked in with were their original bodies, since I’m fairly certain only my family is in possession of this spell, but no matter. One of them admitted he felt tempted to add some extra height but said he shouldn’t have wanted more than he already had. I’m used to making people taller, though, so I am just offering this as a word of advice, dear.”

He pondered it again, considering the real world this time. He wouldn’t want to get used to his taller body in this world and be disappointed when he returned to being inside his real body (assuming he was ever going to get out of this place; he wanted to at least try). Begrudgingly, he ended up fitting his legs to their true length.

He got his face to look like his real face too, and following the advice, he didn’t enhance any of his features. He was more than satisfied with reattaining his original face anyway.

By the time he paid with his one-use ticket and returned to the training grounds, it was already 3 PM, 3 hours since he’d gotten sucked into this game world. Half an hour passed, and he’d gotten to a measly level 8. He figured he was finally ready enough to fight some real monsters in the fields, and he’d rather leave the training grounds now before he simply got kicked out. There was still the fear of coming across PKers, though, but he figured if he found some, he could use the Return spell to get back now that he knew how to open the menu.

It was when he was moving across the town to the nearest field that he found someone willing to accompany him so he didn’t get PKed. Not like he was actually looking for someone in the first place.

Renjun was walking through the large town square and passing the town’s teleport gate when he heard someone calling for someone else to wait. The town square was much emptier than before, but he thought it must’ve been directed at one of the other players still there. Then he heard the same voice say his username, Flavus, and he stopped in his tracks before turning around. Judging from the armour, it was the player who was about to walk through the teleport gate. Behind the player, the cobalt blue portal faded into its idle ice-blue.

“Hey, you’re a new player, aren’t you?” he asked. Renjun glanced up to read his player tag, but he didn’t see anything at all resembling a name, only his health bar and level, just like the PKers from earlier. Because of that, he kept his guard up around him, even though he was still inside the town.

Renjun nodded slowly. “Yeah, I just got here a few hours ago. Uh...who are you?”

The other player looked sheepish at the question. “Oh, that. Sorry, I have it so my username is only revealed to party members, guildmates, and friends. I just don’t like drawing attention to my in-game name. You can call me Mark!”

“I’m Renjun,” he said, relaxing; Mark seemed trustworthy enough.

“Is this your first time playing Fall From Grace?” Mark asked.

Renjun hummed in thought. “Well, yes and no. I’ve played this game for over five years now, but back when this was still...a game.”

“Ah,” Mark said, “yeah, I get you. You just tried on the visor today. Damn, I wish we could’ve warned people to not try it from inside here. Now there are players like you who update and wear the visor unsuspectingly.”

“Yeah,” Renjun said awkwardly. He didn't know why he was being so awkward all of a sudden—he'd never been this stiff around strangers before. Sure, around that group of PKers he'd been nervous, but that was because he was being threatened. Maybe it was a side effect of being around Mark.

“I thought it would be on the news or something for sure—it’s been a month since the Update, right?”

He mentally shook off his awkwardness, thinking back to his conversations with the other players in town. They'd told him it _was_ on the news, but he had neglected to ask _where_ it was on the news. Japan, Korea? But why didn't it reach China?

“Maybe the game developers bribed the news outlets or something, because I didn’t hear anything. If I had, then I obviously wouldn’t be here. They definitely have the money to,” Renjun thought aloud.

“I guess so. I just wish there was something us players could do, us who joined right when the update was released. So that’s why I want to ask you: would it be okay if I joined your party? You’re just about to head out to the fields, right? You’ll probably want someone to defend you from PKers—I know there are some jerks out there who will kill even noobs.”

“Yeah, no kidding. I already met a group of PKers today. Someone saved me, though. About you joining my party, though...”

“If you’re worried about me being a PKer myself, then you shouldn’t be. Even if I was one, I wouldn’t be able to harm you if we were in the same party. The system wouldn’t let me,” Mark said. _“And_ I’m a Bishop—my specialty is healing and protecting, not damage-dealing.”

...That was true. The game didn't allow members of the same party or guild to inflict damage on each other because it wouldn’t be convenient otherwise. “Sure,” Renjun said in the end, “why not. Be my healer for today.”

**_Yestoday_ wishes to join your party.  
[Accept]\----------[Deny]**

\-----

Time went by quickly as Renjun slayed goblin after boar after carnivorous plant in the field just before the Round Forest. Mark was healing him as needed but didn’t help out with actual combat, insisting that Renjun take the monsters on by himself to gain experience (though sometimes one came right behind him and he had to whack it with his staff). Renjun was perfectly fine with that—he’d been planning on grinding alone initially, after all.

He was glad Mark had helped Renjun learn how to use all the basic warrior combos, though—something that would be harder to do alone. Occasionally, Mark would tell him the best combos to use against certain mobs and their weak spots, something he was also glad for, but Mark kept apologizing, saying he probably already knew all of that stuff.

“It’s because I’m used to helping out the noobs, like the _real_ noobs, and it’s helpful to them, but I realize that it’s probably not all that helpful to a veteran like you,” Mark explained. Renjun quickly said it was okay before dashing at another goblin with his orange-glowing blade.

When the constant stream of apologies started to get annoying, Renjun decided to tell Mark straight-up to not apologize so much. “It’s all fine; it’s all helpful. Sure, I used to play the game before the Update as a veteran, but I took a break from the game for a whole semester, so I’ve forgotten some stuff. Not to mention the fact that I haven’t visited the lower floors in forever. It’s good to have someone to help me remember these things, and you’re doing just that.”

After Renjun stopped talking, he briefly wondered if he had come off as too strong, but then Mark scratched his nape. “Okay, if you say so. I guess I’ll stop apologizing now,” he said, cracking a smile.

Renjun smiled back at Mark. “Good.”

Sometime in the middle of walking to a higher level zone in the Lower Realm, Mark asked if Renjun had anything he wanted to do before he got sucked into this game.

Renjun quirked a brow at him. “Why do you ask?”

Mark shrugged. “You can say it’s for a survey of sorts. You know what, I’ll start, if you don’t want to. I, uh...before all this happened, my goal was to graduate university and start my career as a music producer. And I was going to—I was about to get my bachelor’s degree this year.”

“That sucks,” Renjun said, feeling empathetic. He was almost in the same boat—he was in his third year of college and might have to stay back another year depending on how long it would take to clear the game. “I also wanted to graduate university. I was thinking of becoming an entrepreneur and starting my own business. That's _one_ of the things I wanted to do before I got sucked into the game.”

“You wanna tell me about the other things, or...?”

Renjun sighed. To hell with it. “Painting is a hobby of mine, so I wanted to paint this portrait of my mom and send it back home for her birthday. Now my plan is totally screwed. Another thing I wanted to do was go backpacking around Europe. I heard a lot of new high school graduates from Western countries do it, so I wanted to, too. I might be closer to a college graduate than a high school graduate, but it's never too late, right?"

Mark hummed. "Yeah, I wouldn't say it's too late for you to go on a life-changing experience like that. I mean, high school graduate, college graduate, it's basically the same thing. A few of my friends took gap years and travelled around Europe, and they also told me it's never too late."

"Wait, are you from America?"

"Canada," Mark corrected, "but that doesn't really matter. Is there anything you want to do now that you're stuck in here?"

"I guess I want to—ah!" Renjun had tripped on a stone and nearly faceplanted into the dirt. He recollected himself, continuing his sentence. "I guess I want to see my family again. Well, I just got back from winter break a week ago, so I've seen them pretty recently, but I already miss them. Especially now, since we can't get out until we beat the game, and that might take years, which means years before I can see them again. And to see my family again, I want to contribute to boss raids, and to do _that_ I have to level up. Sorry, you probably meant what I want to do in the real world when I get back, not here."

Mark shook his head. "It's fine. That was a good answer," he said, and then his eyes widened. "Wait, oh my God, I just realized that we've totally, like, swapped lines with each other. I think I've infected you."

Renjun sputtered with laughter. "Yeah, I guess so."

Their little moment was soon interrupted by the low growling of hounds—they'd just entered the next field.

"You think you can talk while fighting?" Mark asked.

Renjun drew his blade, sending Mark a grin. "I suppose I can multitask."

"Alright, then do you want to go back to the real world?"

Renjun grounded himself and waited for the hounds to attack him first. "Uh, didn't I"—eight or nine mutts began running towards him all at once, forcing him to activate one of his skills and slash at the air horizontally to create a big magic wave—"say that I did already?"

That attack had pushed all the dogs off him for now, leaving them growling at him from a distance again, but it wasn't strong enough to kill any of them. Instead, their health ranged from half to three-quarters left. He quickly realized these monsters would take more to beat than just one move.

"Oh, yeah. You kind of did," Mark said before raising his staff and healing Renjun's few nicks from the hounds' teeth and claws. He also gave Renjun a magic barrier that would activate once he was under attack. 

"I mean, why not?" Renjun continued. "Is there even anything good enough to make me not want to go back home? Nothing beats my family, you know—they're more than enough reason for me to want to go back. Also, there's…all that stuff…I want to do!"

He charged right into the pack again, using one of his other skills to zigzag between each of the hounds at the speed of lightning and cut them before they even knew what hit them. Another third of all their HPs had depleted, but now two of his strongest skills were on cooldown.

"Why do you ask?" Renjun questioned.

He had his back turned to Mark and couldn't see him, but he heard something that sounded like a mumbled and jumbled 'I don't know" in English (to the point that the auto-translate didn't work), as if he was shrugging. "I said it was for a survey of sorts, remember? And it's just interesting to hear about new people," Mark replied.

The answer wasn't very satisfactory to him, because what kind of person just went out and surveyed people on stuff like this? He had to let it slide though as the hounds began surrounding him on all sides. They pounced on him, but Mark's shield from earlier kicked in as a bright yellow semisphere, electrocuting the hounds and bouncing them off.

Damn, he didn't know Priests could cast a barrier like that.

The barrier fell after that, and Renjun took the chance while the hounds were paralyzed to deal the final blow, reusing the skill he had first used but this time spinning 360 degrees as he cut the air, sending a magic wave in all directions.

With that, the hounds had fallen limp before disintegrating into bubbles, leaving behind 338 gold pieces and some other random drops he could sell back in town. He let out a sigh of relief, his legs giving out on him after that battle. He'd also levelled up to level 21.

"Let me ask you something: _why_ did you spend so much time helping me out today?" For Renjun to jump 21 levels in just one day was quite a lot, considering he didn't even use any of his EXP potions (those of which he decided to save for when he was a higher level).

They did _a lot_ of fighting in the fields, from 3:40 PM till 8 PM. From mid-afternoon to night. That was five to six hours of Mark’s time that he could’ve spent doing something else. Renjun wanted to believe that Mark just helped him because he liked helping people, but he couldn't help but think that Mark was doing this to get something out of it. He told Mark as such, leading him to smile sheepishly.

"I wasn’t lying about liking to help newbies, but I was also looking for someone who would like to join my guild," Mark admitted.

Renjun's brows furrowed. "Why didn’t you just straight-up go and ask people, then? That has to be quicker than whatever this is."

"I _was_ about to go to another floor to ask around, hoping there’d be more luck there, but then I saw you and wanted to help you. I didn’t decide to help you because you seemed like a good candidate, though, but because you were a legit noob. Then, after I saw you get the hang of things so quickly and heard your answers to my questions, I began to seriously consider you as a possible member of my guild," Mark explained. "So how about it? Would you like to join my guild?"

Renjun frowned. "You seem nice and all, but I just don't want to join a guild right now. I'm really sorry though, because my reason is kind of dumb. I just...I just don't want to be attached to a guild. I always played solo back when this was a game because the guilds had pretty tight leashes on their members. It was too restricting being in a guild, and I don't really think that has changed even with us all inside the game world. I personally think guilds are just plain hassles; it’s easier when you can make up the rules of when, where, and what for yourself."

“I totally understand! Don't worry, you don’t need to feel obligated to join. I was just asking. At the end of the day, it’s your choice. The option is always available to you, though, in case you ever change your mind. I’ll be ready to take you in whenever.”

Renjun smiled. “Thanks. Who knows, maybe in the future I’ll take up the offer.”

“...We can still be friends, right?” Mark asked hopefully, but Renjun wasn’t too sure of that idea. He was so used to being a solo player and having a bare friends list. Maybe that was on the list of things he’d need to change—they were _living inside_ of this game’s world now, not just playing in it. Like living in real life, you’d need friends you could rely on and fulfill a basic human need with. You’d need people on your side, and the more the better. He was still adamant on not joining a guild, though.

Renjun ended up saying yes.

“That’s great!” Mark said. “I’ll add you.” He proceeded to open up the menu, and was about to send a request to Renjun until he caught Mark’s wrist. Mark sent him a puzzled look, not quite understanding what he was doing.

“Uh. I just… Can you teach me how to add friends? It’s a basic skill I’ll probably need to know to live in this world. I can’t just ask people to add me first forever, after all,” Renjun explained.

"Of course!" Mark said before beginning to guide him. "Okay, so first you wanna open the menu, then go to Friends, and then either type in the username of the player you want to add in the search bar or drag their player tag into your friends list. But obviously you have to know their username for the first option and they need to have their username public for the latter."

Renjun looked up for the HP gauge under his own, reading Mark's username before typing it in the search bar and pressing enter. Mark's username was now in his friend list but was shaded with its pending status. Then a pop-up appeared in front Mark, asking him to either accept or deny the request. Mark accepted, of course, and his username blinked up in Renjun's friend list. _Yestoday._

"I didn't get to say this before, but cool username you got there," Renjun said.

Mark smiled. "Thanks. I'm glad the game at least put me in my designated main character instead of my original one. My original username was Morkus, which my boyfriend picked out for me. He said it fit me perfectly since I'm a total dork, and all that." Boyfriend? Was he here in the game with Mark? He didn't ask out of fear that he possibly wasn't.

"...What does a shaded name in your friend list mean? Like, what does offline actually mean now that…you know," Renjun asked instead. He only had a handful of names on his friend list, but all of them except Mark's were greyed out. He knew most of them had long since quit, though—he'd just kept them on his list for sentimental reasons.

"Every player who comes to this world after using the visor is considered online all the time, even when they're asleep. If a friend is offline, it could be from one of two things. One, they didn't use the visor, thus they're still in the real world. Two, if they were once online but then went offline, that means they've died in the game. No one knows where you go once you die in game, whether you die in real life or what, but it's better safe than sorry."

"Oh, okay," Renjun said, and then he thought of another question to ask. "How many members do you have in your guild? Just curious."

"Four, including myself," Mark said. Renjun's eyes widened at that—did he just make the guild today or what? "The guild's been around for a few weeks now, but it was made a while after the Update, after the mass panic had died down and most people already joined guilds of their own. My boyfriend is also in it with me—he helped me make it."

"I see. Is that why you haven't gotten many new members since then?"

"Kind of. Like yeah, but that's also not the only reason. I forgot to say this earlier, but we can’t just go around asking random people. My guild is called Dear Dream, see, and it has three requirements. A, they need to have goals they want to achieve back in the real world, B, they actually want to go back to the real world, and C, they need to be good people. In other words, they don’t PK, they’re nice and respectful to everyone, etcetera. Those are the three requirements to Dear Dream, and they're why I can’t just invite random people. I have to sort of interview them, and most people don’t have the time for that or don’t meet the criteria. But you did. It's a shame you couldn't join us, but it can't be helped, I guess."

It was then that they heard the howling of wolves and they realized they needed to get out of there quickly. Monsters tended to get stronger and spawn more of themselves during the night, and a party consisting of only one warrior and one priest wasn't going to last very long.

"We should use a Return spell to get back to town," Renjun suggested, already opening his menu.

Mark nodded, opening his menu as well. "Good idea. Well, I guess this is where we part ways for now."

"I'll...I'll see you around sometime, Mark," Renjun promised before casting the spell.

"See you, Renjun."

\-----

Renjun was having trouble falling asleep that night.

He wasn’t quite sure if it was because of the comfortable yet unfamiliar bed, if it was because sleep worked differently inside a game, or if it was just his own mind keeping himself awake with worry. Maybe it was a combination of all three. It seemed plausible enough.

He just wondered if he had placed his faith in something simply impossible, if he had set his sights too high, if he had made a promise he couldn't keep.


	3. levelled up and still hate your guts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haechan becomes more human with every little thing that Renjun learns about him. Renjun doesn’t know how to feel about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *-* it's finally hereeeeeee
> 
> like the first two chapters, this is going to be *kirito voice* a heck of a lotta information to absorb
> 
> a little warning for alcohol/drinking? it's all in good fun, tho

“Would you please join our guild, Flavus?”

Renjun sighed in exasperation at the bowing player before him. They were from Ivory Hearts, a medium-sized non-elitist battle guild (unlike Phantom Inferno, he sneered internally) trying to beef up their numbers. He wasn’t about to join a guild, especially not a battle guild, even though they participated in floor boss raids and Renjun wanted to participate in floor boss raids.

In his opinion and personal experience, battle guilds were the more strict type of guilds because there were constant, overbearing level quotas, a clear hierarchy system, and surprise call-ins from the higher-ups that you couldn’t ditch. Those surprise call-ins were usually dungeon raids, and, after the Update, bodyguard jobs. Members of battle guilds often took bodyguard requests for players wanting protection while hunting or travelling between towns in exchange for gold.

It was the fifth guild invite he’d received since coming to this world, and he’d only been here for a week and a half. Maybe he appealed to recruiters because of his level 47 status—scratch that, his level was _definitely_ what was attracting the recruiters. He wished he could just turn his level off for viewing so people would stop asking, like he could with his username. Honestly, that would’ve been so much more useful. He wasn’t going to join anyone’s guild, plain and simple.

Renjun returned his attention to the recruiter. “Uh, sorry dude, but I have guild requests turned off, if you haven’t noticed. I’m not looking to join a guild right now,” he said before pinching the bridge of his nose. “And also, could you please stop bowing to me? I’m Chinese, and it’s kind of, you know, _weird_ in this setting.”

The Ivory Hearts member immediately straightened up, much to Renjun’s relief. “Oh, I’m so sorry! It’s just a habit, see. I guess I’ll leave now. Thank you anyway!” He left him after that, wandering in another direction to find another possible recruitment member in town. “Oh, and if you change your mind, you can go to our guild base and we’ll welcome you with open arms!” _Not a chance._

If Renjun _were_ to join a guild, he would have to choose Dear Dream, not only because Mark had asked first but also because the other guild’s reasons for recruiting him paled in comparison. Really, they just wanted his level to be in their ranks, while Mark wanted him in Dear Dream because of his character and personality. The choice was an easy one when you looked at it that way. It was too bad he didn’t want to join, truly.

The sun was already beginning to set. What was he supposed to be doing again? Ah, right, submit his HP potion ingredients to the NPC alchemist in town. He didn’t have the subclass to make the potions himself, so he needed an NPC or a player who _did_ have the Alchemist subclass to do it for him. The alternative would be to buy the potions from the alchemists with gold, but he was looking to buy himself some new gear soon, and good gear was expensive, so he had to save up.

He discovered two things upon walking inside: one, the alchemist’s shop in the main town of floor 16 doubled as an apothecary shop; two, Haechan was currently occupying the sole alchemist-apothecary there. God, what was that jerk doing here? Why did he have to be in the shop at that exact moment? And why did the soft beams of golden hour pouring through the shop window have to hit his face like _that?_

“—a new shipment of Serpent Blood and Moondrop Extract tomorrow, if that appeases you,” the shopkeeper said.

“Yes, that’ll be fine. I’ll leave with the other ingredients today and come again tomorrow to pick up the rest,” Haechan replied with a soft, sweet voice, opening his menu to check his inventory before closing it again. Did he already complete the transaction? “At what time do you think you’ll finish organizing the shipment? I’d like to come at the earliest convenience.” Wow, he actually seemed like a respectable young man speaking like that, Renjun thought. He almost couldn’t believe it was the same guy who had mocked him before.

“The shipment will arrive at around 8 AM, so I should have your order prepared by 9.”

Haechan nodded. “Then I’ll come tomorrow at 9:10 AM.”

“Thank you, and have a good evening!”

“You, too,” Haechan said before turning around to exit the shop. His eyes met Renjun’s then, widening in surprise before returning to their regular size with a familiar teasing glint. “Oh, hey, Flavus. Long time no see.”

Renjun snorted. “Yeah, long time no see. Yeah, right—it’s only been, like, _ten days.”_

“Ten days can seem like a long time, you know. Didn’t you miss me at all?” Haechan asked playfully.

Renjun glared at him. “Don’t act like we’re friends after you said that shit about me.”

Haechan pouted. “Aw, come on! Ten days have passed. That basically makes it water under the bridge now! Or are you the type of guy to keep grudges?”

“Well, you haven’t exactly apologized for what you said, now have you.”

Haechan rolled his eyes as if apologizing was a hassle. “Fine, then I’m sorry for saying—what did I even say again?”

“Said I looked helpless, like a damsel in distress, and that I probably get bullied in real life. Which, by the way, I _do not_ get bullied in real life.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry for all _that,_ I guess,” Haechan said. He didn’t particularly sound like he meant it, but Renjun was willing to accept it anyway, since it was probably the best he could get. And then Haechan squinted at him and opened his goddamn mouth again, saying, “Is it just me, or have you gotten shorter since the last time I saw you?”

Renjun was regretting not keeping the extra inches after all, because then he could’ve been taller than Haechan and he’d have nothing to say. Then again, he wasn’t all that insecure about his height. “We’re literally the same height; try again.”

Haechan looked up and down at him. “Are you _sure_ we’re the same height? You could be wearing height insoles right now and I wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“This world has insoles?”

“Yeah, if you’re so interested in buying them, a crafting guild called Clockwork is selling them in the Lower Realm,” Haechan said smoothly. _Tempting, but no thanks._

“How do I know _you’re_ not wearing insoles?” Renjun shot back. “I didn’t even know they existed in this world until right now but you seem to know all about them.”

Haechan slipped off one of his boots and showed Renjun there was just the original sole before slipping it back on. Renjun was glad the game didn’t make players sweat. “There, see?”

It was at this moment Renjun remembered they were still inside the shop, and he still needed to get the alchemist to make him HP potions. Somehow it seemed the shopkeeper hadn’t seen or heard any of their conversation, and for that he was glad, too. “God, I don’t have time to talk with you,” he said, walking around Haechan to get to the kiosk.

“Oh, right. I _also_ don’t have time to talk with you. I have a guild meeting in fifteen minutes.” Haechan looked as if he was going to finally leave the shop, but then he turned around again. “Do you hate me?”

Something about him made Renjun hesitate to answer. Perhaps it was the slight vulnerability in his eyes, or maybe Haechan’s tone had briefly reverted to the mellow one he’d used with the shopkeeper. He blinked, and suddenly it was gone, and he figured he must’ve just imagined it.

“If I said I hated your guts, would that make the feeling mutual?”

A smirk; no answer. Jingle. Shut. And gone he was, leaving Renjun wondering if that was a yes or a no, if it was a genuine question or one made to manipulate him into feeling some sort of way. Not like it would make Renjun hate him less.

Maybe Haechan was right about him being the type to keep grudges.

\-----

Renjun pushed open the door to the blacksmith's shop, the shopkeeper’s bell on the door chiming as he did. He slowly stepped foot into the shop and let his eyes wander the vast array of weapons and armour rigged on the walls.

He'd heard a lot of great things about this place from the other players; the reviews said this place was one of the best player-run shops around. It was run by a gay couple, which deterred some homophobic customers, but most players were cool with it or would rather look past it in favour of acquiring some high-quality gear. One of them had the Blacksmith subclass and the other had the Instrument Crafter subclass, and together they appealed to most Adventurers.

There was currently one other customer inside the shop at this late hour, though they seemed to have just finished a transaction and were leaving looking rather pleased.

"Thank you! Have a nice day," a pink-haired man called out from behind the kiosk. He quickly turned to the man beside him, whose eyes were crinkled from his soft smile. "Shit, Jen. I said 'have a nice day' out of habit but it's freakin' evening already."

"Jaem, I'm pretty sure the guy didn't even notice—he's probably used to hearing that, too," _Jen_ said in comfort. His eyes soon found their way to Renjun, acknowledging his presence in the store. "Oh, hello there! Welcome to Double J's."

 _Jen and Jaem, huh?_ "Hello," Renjun said in turn before distracting himself with the collection of swords for sale.

There were longswords, greatswords, falchions, jian swords, katana paired with wakizashi, and even weird swords with serrated edges that he didn’t even know the name of—a ton of swords.

“Oh, wait, I forgot to put out my new rapiers,” Jen said. Renjun turned to the kiosk and saw as Jen went into a workshop in the back. He figured Jen must’ve been the blacksmith out of the two.

Jen soon came back and walked over to an empty display beside Renjun, tapping the glass and his inventory pop-up to transport the swords inside the display. There were three rapiers in all on display, each blade long and slender. The hilts were beautiful, with intricate rings spiralling like vines, though each was slightly different in design.

“You’ve been looking at them for a long time. Do you want to try one out?” Jen asked.

Renjun pursed his lips in thought. “I just think they’re pretty. I don’t know if I should actually use one, though.”

Jen hummed. “I think you should give them a shot. I mean, you’re a Swashbuckler, right? That means you can dual wield, but the sum of your two weapons has to be less than or equal to your strength stat. Two rapiers should be light enough to carry by anyone, and they would give you the edge in speed, too.”

“...Was that a pun just now?”

Jen smiled. “Glad you noticed. So, you want to try them out or nah?”

Renjun looked to the swords in the display again before nodding. “Now that I really think about it, yeah, I think they’d be a good fit for me. My highest stat _is_ speed, after all.”

"Do you want to try out one or two? I made two of each, so you can just pick one of them," Jen said, tapping the glass again to make it vanish so Renjun could touch.

“I’ll try out one, and if I like it, I’ll buy two,” Renjun responded.

Renjun stepped closer, picking each rapier up one at a time. They had some weight but were fairly light. He tried thrusting one of the rapiers into the empty space opposite Jen (or whatever his name was; it seemed like a nickname, and Renjun wasn't sure if he was even allowed to use it). He wasn't totally unfamiliar with the motion, since he'd often have to use it in battle at one point, but having it as his main action instead of slashing would take some getting used to.

The combos would also take some getting used to; some combos were activated with slightly different sequences depending on the user's weapons. For a rapier, he'd have to end most sequences with some sort of stab.

He switched the rapier with another one with a higher agility, though the payoff was that it dealt less damage. It was the lightest of the three and also the one he found most visually appealing.

"Go ahead with a combo; you can't break anything that's part of a building, and you can't harm us in a safe zone anyway, so don't worry," Jaem said from the counter.

"Okay then…" Renjun trailed off, not knowing if he should call him 'Jaem' or not.

"Jaemin. And that's Jeno," _Jaemin_ supplied. "Or you can call me Nana and Jeno, Enno."

“Okay then, Jaemin,” Renjun repeated. He recalled the sequence of one of his simpler combos: a short spurt followed by a dash to phase through his opponent, and a pivot and slash at their backside. He figured that with a rapier, he’d have to replace the last slash with a thrust, or multiple thrusts, to use the light sword to its full potential.

Renjun took a deep breath, a new, determined focus setting on his face. And then he did just what he planned in his head, phasing a few meters through the empty walkway before pivoting and thrusting the rapier at what would be an opponent’s upper back. He’d only thrusted once, but multiple shard-like magic projectiles fired off as if he’d attacked several times in a mere two seconds. Without anything to hit, they continued to fly forward, though they faded before getting close to hitting Jeno.

The revised combo was an attack that emphasized swiftness and multiple attacks instead of one wide swing, only possible with the rapier’s weight combined with his agility stat. He liked the minor effort the new combo had taken to execute compared to his old one with his one-handed sword, and he liked the modestly light feeling of the sword in his hands. It was a good sword.

Jaemin whistled from behind the kiosk, causing Renjun to turn around again. “So, I take it from that smile on your face that you like it?”

Renjun hadn’t even noticed he’d been smiling. He nodded. “How much does it cost?”

“48 thousand and 500 in change, if I’m not mistaken,” Jaemin said, “right, Jen?” Jeno hummed, and Renjun’s eyes widened like saucers.

“48 thousand?!” he exclaimed. “Nah, you can’t be serious...” That was _over half_ of all the gold he had! And for just _one_ rapier, not even including the second?

“Well,” Jeno began, “I _am_ one of the top ten blacksmiths on the server. My swordsmithing level is totally maxed out. I think it’s only natural that my swords are so expensive. And as for that particular sword, I forged it with a speed-type metal, so that adds to the price.”

“...How much does a second one cost?” He was almost too afraid to ask in case it was the same.

“Hmm… Buy one, get one fifty percent off?” Jeno suggested. “In total, that would be—”

“72,750 gold,” Renjun completed. Basically all of his gold. He sighed—he’d be nearly dirt-poor after spending that much… “Is that price final?”

Jeno winced. “Yeah, it is. Sorry, is that out of your price range?”

“Uh...I _guess_ it’s just about in my price range? I really didn’t expect these swords to be _this_ expensive.”

“Then how about I give you free durability repairs and upgrades, but just for the rapiers?”

“Well, I’m not just going to say no to that, now am I?” Renjun said, and Jeno chuckled, walking past him to get back behind the kiosk. “I’ll buy.”

Renjun followed Jeno to the kiosk with the rapier and set it on the wide countertop. Jeno took its scabbard and sheathed twin out of his inventory, sheathing the first rapier before setting it down again. He then crouched down for some reason, letting Jaemin handle the transaction.

Jaemin was quick to open his menu and send Renjun a trade request. It was the only way players could make transactions in-game. Renjun accepted, and saw the two identical rapiers in the menu. Another box popped up in front of him, requesting 72,750 gold in exchange, which he also accepted before submitting. The rapiers vanished from the counter and appeared in his inventory, and just like that he lost a good eighty to ninety percent of his gold. Renjun sighed again, mourning the loss of cash.

It was when Jeno came back up again that Renjun noticed the identical rings on his and Jaemin’s hands. “You’re married?” He knew they were a couple, but he didn’t think that the game allowed same-sex marriage.

Jaemin smiled. “Yep, we’re married and we even have two kids.”

 _“Cat-babies,”_ Jeno clarified, looking down at his feet. He beckoned them—Nal and Seol, their names were—to come up, though only one, a calico, pounced up on the counter before slumping down. “This is Seol. Nal is a little shy, but he’s down here.”

“If it’s okay to ask, did you have any cats in the real world?” Renjun asked, petting Seol.

“I had one,” Jeno answered. “Her name’s Bongsik. I found her on the streets like eight or so years ago. I’ve always loved cats, but in real life I’m actually allergic. When I went to college, there was a no-pets policy and I couldn’t bring her into the dorm, so luckily Bongsik’s still with my parents back home. I have Seol and Nal now, but I still miss her.”

“...What about when we get back to the real world? Then you’re going to miss them,” Renjun said, frowning.

Jaemin suddenly pointed to Renjun as if he’d just made a point there. “See, that’s what I said! When Jeno asked if we could adopt Seol and Nal, I told him that he shouldn’t get attached. Because what if we beat the game and leave this world? Then he’d never see them again. But he was stubborn—even more stubborn than me about this—and he made up his mind then and there to bring them with him somehow. He told me he could do it, that he majored in this sort of thing—computer programming and tech, that is. So I just gave in.”

‘More stubborn than me’? How stubborn was Jaemin, anyway? He shook his head at the thought. It was nearly 10 PM now, and he needed to go find an inn to sleep at—

"I heard you're new to the Update," Jaemin said when he figured Renjun wasn’t going to speak again. He’d just lost the perfect opportunity to leave. _Oh well,_ he thought. He’d be okay with talking a little longer.

Renjun found a seat to sit on before replying, "Where’d you hear that?"

"Oh, from our guild master. He said he helped you out and tried to recruit you and all, but you said no. We’re in Dear Dream, see?” Jaemin pointed to his HP gauge above his head, and surely enough, there was the guild’s name in small caps and its insignia under his username. _“Anyway,_ you have a subclass yet?" Jaemin asked, quirking a brow at him curiously.

Renjun nodded. "The Tracker subclass. It's cool—gives me some of the Assassin skills without actually being an Assassin."

Jaemin snorted. "Yeah, _some,"_ he said. "It can't beat a real Assassin's skills though. I'm an Assassin, so I would know."

"Really?" Renjun said, pleasantly surprised. "I've made a lot of characters over the years, but I never got to try out the Assassin class. Have you ever tried to use the Tracker subclass before or just faced people with the Tracker subclass?"

"Both. I did the quest for it and everything as a Rogue, the base First Job for Assassin—which doesn’t even make sense, by the way—only to realize it was basically a complete duplicate of the Assassin skills when I became an Assassin. Absolutely useless," Jaemin said, shaking his head. "Well, that was back in the old game, right when the class came out, so I actually don't know if the Assassin and Tracker combo is better now. But I also don't want to give up my Instrument Crafter subclass to find out for myself just in case it turns out to be the same."

"Ah," Renjun said, "I see. But for an Assassin, Instrument Crafter is kind of..." _Weird. Odd._

"Odd, right?" Jeno finished for Renjun, saying the word he thought might have been too offensive. "I told him that if he was going to choose a different subclass, he should choose one that's more useful than the Tracker subclass was. But _no,_ he decided to choose Instrument Crafter so he could match with my Blacksmith subclass and we could open a shop together."

"That's sweet," Renjun thought out loud.

"Admittedly so, but I still really wish he had chosen something for his own sake instead of mine," Jeno said, sighing.

Jaemin pouted. "It _was_ for my own sake! I did it so we could be that cute village couple who got married and started running their own business. You know, like roleplay. Because this is an MMORPG— _yeah._ Anyway, it was my _dream,_ Jeno, so I _did_ do it for myself. And for you. And for us. Anything for you is for me, sugarplum."

"...By the way, why is this place named 'Double J's'?" Renjun asked, feeling increasingly like a complete outsider with all of the couple's couple-y gestures. (He's pretty sure he wasn't supposed to see Jaemin's surprise kiss to Jeno, and Jaemin turns to face him and puts a finger on his smug lips, the universal sign to not say a word, so he tries to forget about it.) "You know, just. _Wondering."_

"Yeah, uh," Jeno begins, now flustered, "so when we were thinking of opening up a shop back in the old game, we didn't really have that many ideas for a name. We just knew what we were going to sell: weapons, armour, and instruments. At first, we thought of the name 'Jeno and Jaesook's Weapons, Armour, and Instruments', but it was over the character limit. _Then_ we thought of 'Jeno and Jaesook's Weapons' since instruments can be classified as weapons for Bards and other classes in that path, but then again we also sold armour. Then it was just 'Jeno and Jaesook's shop', and—"

"Wait, wait, wait. _Jaesook?"_ Renjun asked, eyes fixed on Jaemin.

"Roleplaying game," Jaemin supplied, completely unfazed.

Renjun's jaw dropped at the implication. That must’ve been how he and Jeno got married—they married before Jaemin got fitted and changed his avatar. "Gotcha." 

_"Anyway,_ then we just settled on the name 'Double J's' since our names both start with the letter J and it's our shop," Jeno finished, and Renjun clapped for his lack of a response. After Jaemin had admitted that he _may_ have roleplayed as a girl in the old game, he had no more words. And the end was kind of anti-climactic.

Then a small menu popped up in front of Jeno followed by ringing—a telepathy call, AKA a voice call—saving the mood from awkwardness, and Jeno picked it up. There was a moment of silence, probably the caller speaking before Jeno replied, "Hey Hyuckie, don't worry about it. I'm just in the shop with Jaemin and a new customer-slash-acquaintance... Yeah, you can drop by, I don't think he'll mind... Yeah, sounds good... Bye."

"Who was that just now?" Renjun asked after Jeno closed the call window.

"Donghyuck, a friend and loyal customer of ours," Jeno said. "Well, his _guild_ is our loyal customer, not him, but the friend thing still stands. He and Jaemin go to— _went_ to the same university in real life and got closer through the game. He's also kind of our business partner—he's an alchemist, and he trades his potions for our gear, which we resell. His username is Haechan, from Phantom Inferno. You know him or…?"

"Oh, _that_ guy? Yeah, I know him. I _hate_ him."

"...Wow, Renjun. Hate is a pretty strong word," Jaemin said, an amused smile creeping on his face. "What did he even do to make you hate him so much?"

Renjun scowled just from thinking about him and that smug grin. "I get he's your friend and all, but in my defence he's a total douche! When I first joined the game after the Update, with the visor, I was a whole month late, so everyone else was already a higher level than me. Some PKers found me while they were in the Round Forest, probably for their Second Job quests, and decided to pick on me, the noob.

"Then _he_ comes in and saves the day, or whatever, and I'm about to thank him for his help since, you know, I have manners, and it was appreciated. But _then_ he calls me his fucking damsel in distress and says I'm probably the type to be bullied in real life. The _audacity._ Like, I could've perfectly handled myself, and no, I don't get bullied. Just who does he think he is? And don't even get me started on when we crossed paths after I got fitted," Renjun said, concluding his rant with an annoyed grunt. His _‘Do you hate me?’_ replayed in his mind then, and Renjun convinced himself he was just being played with.

"I'm sorry about him. He likes to push people's buttons a lot, especially people he's just met," Jeno said, his back turned so he could wipe a ledge or whatever it was he was doing. "It's like he challenges himself to make everyone hate him, but I really don't get _why_ he does it since he actually doesn't like it when people hate him. Anyway, I swear he's a good guy once you get to know him, Renjun."

Renjun rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure," he said dismissively. _Once you get to know him, huh?_

The bells on the front door jingled, signalling that someone had just entered the shop.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear," Renjun said, eyes glossing over Haechan’s—or Donghyuck's—guild uniform and his stupidly attractive face that someone as much of a jerk as him didn't deserve.

"I don't think that counts if we already knew he was coming," Jeno said smartly.

Donghyuck smirked at him. "You were talking about me? Wow, I'm flattered, Flavus.”

“Yeah, we were talking about how much you annoy me,” Renjun scoffed.

“Well, that’s all fine and good! I don’t really care—just means you’re thinking of me one way or another,” Donghyuck said cheerily. "Oh, hey Seol, hey Nal!" Jeno and Jaemin shared incredulous looks, but Renjun wasn’t really paying attention to them and thus didn’t see.

“So, Hyuck,” Jeno began, grabbing their attention, “what was this about a concoction of yours you wanted us to try?”

Donghyuck’s face lit up a bit and he opened his inventory and took out four glasses and three glass bottles with stoppers, each filled with clear, colourless liquids. He set them down on the counter away from Seol. All the bottles were labelled _1, 2,_ and _3_ but were otherwise unidentifiable.

"Do I want to know what these are?" Jeno asked, voice laced with suspicion and a hint of fear.

"I've been experimenting with a bunch of other alchemists to create club soda, Sprite, and soju," Donghyuck said proudly. "This world doesn't have any carbonated drinks or alcohol aside from ale, beer, and wine, and we decided that needs to change. It's also just a good way to simultaneously increase our brewing and chemistry skills."

"Wow, you sound really into this… Makes me wonder why you're in a battle guild," Jeno said offhandedly.

"I dunno, I just like that I can apply my real-world knowledge of chemistry in a fun way in this world. Also, come _on,_ it's Sprite and soju," Donghyuck said. "About being in Phantom Inferno instead of another guild, I kinda have no choice but to stay—I'm considered a higher-up in the guild, and I've been in the guild since its inception. I can't just up-and-leave. _Anyways,_ just so we're clear, we've already taste-tested everything, and it's all good; I just wanted you guys to try it."

"...So are you gonna tell us what's what? Or are we going in blind?" Jaemin asked. "You _know_ I don't like the taste of alcohol."

"I also have flavoured soju with me—peach, to be specific. I can give you that instead," Donghyuck said, retrieving another bottle from his storage, this time clearly labelled _soju (peach)_ in Hangul.

The longer this conversation went on, the more Renjun felt like an outsider. The three were clearly a close-knit group of friends, and then there was him, someone who they'd just met that one of them didn't even like.

"We should go upstairs for this. We closed the shop fifteen minutes ago, so we won't be getting any new customers, but we should move somewhere more comfortable," Jeno said, straightening his back. _They closed already?_ Jeno turned to Renjun. "Renjun, you wanna come? It'll be fun. I understand if you don't want to though—we just met, and it's already kind of late."

This was Renjun's chance to finally go, and yet, strangely enough, Renjun found himself wanting to stay. Maybe it was because he was starving for friendly interaction. It was _probably_ because he was starving for friendly interaction. Enough so that he'd even willingly bear being in the same room as the man he hated.

So Renjun decided to stay.

Donghyuck recollected all of his bottles and glasses and they followed Jeno and Jaemin up the stairs beside them. Then it occurred to him—

"How do you know my name?"

Jaemin stopped walking up and turned back to look at Renjun. He raised an eyebrow. "You're asking this _now?_ Like I said before, our guild master Mark told us, like, everything," he said before turning around and continuing to walk up. Ah, right. But just what did 'everything' include? _Everything?_

The second floor was much cozier than the shop below, truly looking like a home. The couple led them to the kitchen-slash-dining room, where they sat down and Donghyuck unpacked everything just as he had before.

Donghyuck poured out the first drink in all of their shot glasses. The liquid fizzed up, clearly one of the carbonated drinks. Renjun brought it to his nose for a quick sniff—a sweet, slightly citrusy scent—then they all did cheers and knocked back their shots.

To his delight, it tasted almost exactly like what he remembered of Sprite. So similar and so good, in fact, that he almost forgot his hate for Haechan right then and there.

The next one was the soju, they quickly learned after drinking. It was clean, mild, slightly sweet, and, as it went down his throat, _definitely_ alcohol. Jaemin blinked rapidly and made a weird face while Jeno looked pleasantly surprised, eyes glancing at Donghyuck and back to his shot glass.

"I thought you were going to tell me which one the soju was," Jaemin whined. "I'll admit, it tastes like soju, but that's what I don't like about it."

"My God, Jaemin. A Korean who doesn't like soju…" Donghyuck said, trailing off. "I don't understand how you can drink a six-shot Americano but not be able to tolerate the taste of alcohol. I swear, you have the weirdest palate."

Renjun's eyes widened. "Six shots? Like, six _extra_ shots of espresso? How can your heart even handle that much caffeine?"

Donghyuck shook his head, pouring out the third drink, which should've been the club soda. "I tried it once, since he offered it to me, and I literally spat it out. It was so bitter and absolutely disgusting... I think I might've killed some of my taste buds. Zero out of ten, would not recommend."

"Noted," Renjun said. He looked back at the new drinks Donghyuck had poured. It should've been the club soda, except it didn't fizz at all, which was suspicious.

"Cheers!" they went again, but this time Renjun faked the motion of shooting it down. He noticed Donghyuck did the same, just bringing it to his lips but not even taking a sip. See, he _knew_ something was up.

Jaemin spat it back into the shot glass right away while Jeno seemed to have swallowed it and was expressing the aftertaste through his active facial features.

"You demon… That was fucking vinegar!"

Donghyuck flashed them an impish grin. "You should've noticed from the lack of carbonation that it wasn't soda water. Your fault, not mine." He glanced at Renjun and pouted. "Too bad _you_ didn't fall for it. I was really looking forward to seeing the look on your face."

Renjun shrugged. “I was careful because I thought you might decide to poison me or something. Who knows?”

Donghyuck snorted, looking almost offended. “You don’t really think that lowly of me, do you? I wouldn’t resort to poison, or even my other alchemy tricks, to kill you; I’d rather kill you in a fair and square fight to the death.”

Renjun rolled his eyes. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, standing up and collecting everyone’s shot glasses to pour the vinegar down the sink. It was the least he could do. He received a few thanks in return and went back to his seat with the emptied glasses. “I… To be honest, I’ve done this prank before. Once I was with my friends, and we were trying this imported gin, but at the time I was a little mad at one of them, so I poured him out vinegar when he wasn’t looking.” He didn’t know why he was telling them that. Maybe it was the alcohol. “I saw you take out the three clear drinks, and was like, ‘he’s going to do something like that.’”

“Are you saying we think alike?”

“What? _No.”_

“Ah, and here I thought… Oh well,” Donghyuck said, pouring out the flavoured soju. “Here, Jaemin, you’ll probably like this.”

They all did cheers again, and the drinks went down the hatch. Was this how flavoured soju was supposed to taste? _Kids could drink this,_ he thought. It was sweet, like peach juice, completely masking any alcohol flavour.

“Oh yeah! Now _that’s_ more like it!” Jaemin said gleefully. He was already outstretching his shot glass again for Donghyuck to refill, which the samurai seemed to do without even thinking. “Did you pick peach because it’s my favourite fruit?”

“Yeah. I _was_ thinking about maybe using strawberry-flavoured soju, but I figured I was already mean enough today.”

“Ah, I see how it is,” Renjun said, refusing to look at Donghyuck.

“Are you _still_ going on about that?”

“Guys, guys,” Jeno butted in. “Let’s just have fun tonight, alright? Renjun, how about you tell us more about yourself?”

Renjun frowned. “I thought you said you already knew everything about me.”

“Not _everything_ everything,” Jaemin said, as if it was obvious. “Mark just told us everything _he knew_ about you, _duh._ Like, we don’t know how old you are, when your birthday is, when you started playing the game—stuff like that, because you didn’t tell _him_ so he couldn’t tell _us.”_

“Oh,” Renjun said. “Well, I was born in 2000.”

“Wow, then we’re all the same age,” Jeno said. “I was born in April, Hyuckie in June, and Jaem in August. What about you?”

“My birthday’s this month. I guess that makes me the oldest,” Renjun said.

“You’re _kidding,_ right?” Donghyuck asked, looking rather unconvinced. “There’s _no_ way you’re older than all of us.”

“And _what_ are you implying with tha—”

A loud laugh broke out from Jaemin beside him—a cackle, really. “I’m having the time of my _life_ right now. Seriously, watching you fight is…” A hiccup. “So funny… Hyuck, I need more soju over here...”

“No! No more!” Jeno said, taking Jaemin’s shot glass away. “How much did you drink already?”

Jaemin pouted at Jeno. “I dunno. Ask Hyuck, he’s the one who kept pouring...”

“Donghyuck,” Jeno said in a low voice, sending a scary glare.

“Oops?” Donghyuck attempted sheepishly, but Jeno didn’t let up his staring. Then Donghyuck turned to Renjun and beamed at him. “Hey, Flavus, you still didn’t tell us when you started playing the game.”

“Hyuck, you’re not getting out of this that easily—”

“Well, it’s too late now! I honestly didn’t even notice I was pouring, I was too busy talking!”

Jeno sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Fine. Renjun?”

“Uh...” Renjun said awkwardly now that he’d been put on the spot. He dug into the depths of his memory to try and find a date—at least a month. “2015? That was the year the game was released in China. I don’t know what month though. If I had to guess, maybe October? I think there was a Halloween event at the time. And you guys?”

“June 2014,” Donghyuck said. “Jeno joined in...November 2014? But get this—Jaemin began playing in February 2014, right when the game was released. He’s a _real_ veteran.”

“Wait, seriously? Wow...but doesn’t that not mean much now? We’re all new to living in this world, and new to fighting with our real bodies, and there’s a bunch of new content because of the Neo Sequence DLC,” Renjun said.

“I guess so,” Jaemin said, “but you know, being a veteran still helps a lot because I know everything that _isn’t_ the new content, which is a lot more. I know the combos of nearly every class, and I know every class’ limitations, etcetera, etcetera. I’ve tried out a bunch of class and subclass combinations, like the Assassin and Tracker combo I told you about that didn’t end up giving any bonuses—at the time, anyway.”

“Yeah…” Renjun said, kind of trailing off before finding his next words. “About the Assassin-Tracker thing, if they both have the exact same skills, then doesn’t that mean that, if someone had a class _other than_ Assassin and had the subclass of Tracker, they’d be better than you? It’s the _skills_ that make the Assassin class so overpowered, so, what I’m trying to say is, if that player with another class also had the Tracker subclass and you two fought, they’d have their original class’ skills as something extra that you don’t have, since your subclass kind of, uh, not for combat.”

Jaemin stood up with an insulted expression on his face, his chair screeching as he did. "Are you doubting my skills as an Assassin?"

"Wait, _what?_ No!"

Jeno frowned. "Jaem…" He tried tugging on Jaemin's sleeve to get him to sit back down, to no avail.

"Like I said, the Tracker subclass is just a subpar copy of the Assassin skills. If you think that you, a Swashbuckler with the Tracker subclass, can defeat an actual Assassin like me, then you're terribly mistaken," Jaemin said with a condescending sneer. Oh _God_ no, that wasn’t what Renjun was saying at all—he’d just given a hypothetical! "But if you refuse to accept that fact with your entire being, then I have no choice but to challenge you to a duel! You and me, tomorrow on March 19th, 3 PM at the arena."

Haechan clapped and cackled, bending over from his laughter. He wiped a tear from his eyes before turning to Renjun and saying, "Wow, you've really done it now, Flavus. I'm looking forward to seeing you get your ass whooped tomorrow."

_What just happened?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and i leave yall on a cliffhanger :D
> 
>  **edit nov. 20 2020:** sorry, but this fic is now on an indefinite hiatus...... well actually, this fic has been on hiatus for a while now, and i'm only just making it official. i feel like i've lost my spark for writing rpf. currently i'm writing anime fic (on [another account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flauel)) just so i don't lose my writing spark at all. idk, maybe all those tweets and posts about rpf being weird and dehumanizing blah blah blah got to me. idk when this fic will be back, or if i'll be writing rpf in the future (the only exception is my nctbb fic, which is for the last fic fest that i signed up for)

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to check out my twitter [@ksfrmi](https://twitter.com/ksfrmi/status/1286683028832616450?s=19) or send an ask about this fic through my [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/ksfrmi) <3
> 
> kudos and comments very much appreciated!!


End file.
